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6.23.2014

Breastfeeding the Second Baby

If you've been following my blog for a while, you know that I had a really rough start with breastfeeding Charlotte. Looking back I feel like she was probably lip tied and we just never caught it. Anyway, we struggled for a while, and it was pretty painful to say the least. So naturally when Millie came along I was preparing for the same thing. Sure, I had hopes that it would be different this time around, but I really didn't know what to expect. Thankfully, breastfeeding this particular little girl has been fairly easy.

Minutes after she was born, she bobbed her little head over and latched for the very first time. It was an amazing moment. Like my husband always says, it's so incredible how they've been basically "swimming" for 9 months, and then they're born...and they know how to breathe, and suck to feed. Unlike her big sister, Millie needed absolutely no encouragement to nurse. Now that I think of it...she's pretty much never needed encouragement to eat. Haha! Sorry, kiddo. ;-)

My milk came in on Christmas Eve, and Millie thoroughly enjoyed it! I, however, was in pain and leaking everywhere. :P But apparently, that's just the way it is for me. The crazy leaking everywhere and milk letting down at random times only lasted a few weeks this time. With Charlotte it took almost 8 weeks to regulate. Good times.

Yes. That burp cloth was there to catch any extra milk that might leak out. *sigh*

Our only real problem with nursing in the beginning was that after a couple weeks (maybe? It's all fuzzy now), she started doing this weird head shaking thing. She'd pull off, shake her head, cry, latch, and repeat. Eventually I had the sense to Google it, and wound up finding a forum... Turns out she did that when she needed to burp! Who knew? Charlotte always just spit up all over me, so I didn't know what to do with this one. Haha! We constantly battle the big sister distractions, but that's just part of life with more than one kiddo. Both of them are fairly easy to redirect, so it hasn't been a huge problem.

This is how we dealt with sister distractions in the beginning:

sitting next to mommy and watching a show.

It's really been nice having such an easy time breastfeeding from the beginning. It did take me a few days to, you know, remember how to breastfeed a newborn, but after it all came back to me it was nice! The first few weeks weren't problem-free, and I often found myself frustrated because she didn't know how to nurse, but I did. Charlotte and I learned how to breastfeed together, so it was interesting to teach a baby how to breastfeed this time. I'm fairly certain I voiced this frustration to my MIL quite a few times during the week she was here after Millie's birth.

The hands! So sweet.

Once we got the hang of latching (and figuring out that head shaking thing!) and dealing with big sister during feedings, it was a breeze. So different from all of the ups and downs I had learning how to breastfeed Charlotte, and dealing with awfully cracked nipples. I'm thankful, though, because I'm not sure I would have handled that well this time, what with Millie having colic and then Joe off at NTC for 5 weeks.

For a while there at the beginning, I wasn't sure how I would feel nursing another baby. I felt such an intense connection with Charlotte while she was nursing, and I wasn't sure if it would be the same. It turns out the saying about love growing when you have another baby is the same with breastfeeding. ;-)

Now that Millie is more active while she nurses, I'm enjoying it even more. There's just something precious, innocent, and sweet about little hands touching your face, playing with your hair, kicking feet up in the air, and then putting her hand on your chest as she falls asleep. My favorite feeding of the day is the last one - where she's sleepy and cuddly, and I can just hold her as she nurses, and everyone is asleep but us. (Well, just me, really. She usually sleeps through that feeding.) I remember feeling the same way with Charlotte, and I know that I will miss that feeding when she gives it up...which will probably be soon. Until then, I'll enjoy it and take many more pictures to remember later.

4 comments:

I love, love, love this post! I've always wondered what it will be like the second time around, and this gives me hope. Did you blog about weaning Charlotte? Also, how far apart are they? Did you breastfeed while pregnant? (You must have, because at the end you said C still gets one feeding?) So many questions!!

That is awesome that its been easier this time around. It's interesting to see how things change and evolve the the next time going through things. I have been tossing the idea back and forth about actually nursing the next little one (whenever that will be) or at the very least pumping again. I feel like I know a lot more information now on both that I wish I had known before! Things that would have made my life a million times easier.